Fountain toothbrush



Oct. 22, 1935. R. J. vloLE'rTE FOUNTAIN TOOTHBRUSH Filed April 2o, A195sPatented' ou. z2, 193s UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE FOUNTAIN TOOTHBRUSHRichard J. Violette, Virginia, Minn. Application April 20, 1933, SerialNo. 666,997

4 Claims.

This invention relates to fountain toothbrushes, the principal objectbeing to provide a more practical and eillcient brush of this type thanheretofore known.

Another object is to provide a fountain brush of this character having anovel form Vof discharge nozzle in the midst of the bristles of thebrush.

A further object is to provide such a brush requiring a specic vform ofcontainer tube for same; the tube having means whereby to prevent anypossible leaking or daubing of the handle portion of the brush, and oneespecially simple of manipulation.

A still further object is to provide a novel form of jack or thrustmechanism for the extrusion press of such a brush.

Otherobjects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description thereof. v.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, forming part of thisapplication, and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of one of the complete brusheswith a dentifrice tube therein.`

Figure 2 is a transverse-section on the line 2 2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the bristle end of the brush showing theposition of the nozzle therewithin and the bristles removed.

I represents the handle of the brush which is preferably 'circularexternally, though may be of any other desired shape if preferred. Thishandle portion is provided with two separate chambers; the major one forthe convenient reception of the dentifrice tube 3, and the minor one,indicated at 4, for the reception of the telescopic jack or thrustmechanism, the component parts of which are indicated at 5, 6, 1, 8, and9, which will be more fully described later. This handle portion I isprovided with a closure plug I0, screw-threadedly mounted therewithin,and rotatably carries axially thereof, the jack operated cap II.

Into the opposite end of the handle I is screwthreadedly mounted thearcuately shaped -brush shank I2, it being so constructed as to receivethe discharge end of the dentifrice tube and form a ush, tapered,continuation of the round handle. This brush shank is hollow and soformed as to discharge centrally of and into the group of bristles I3 ofthe toothbrush. For such discharge I have shown illustrated as at II asoft rubber nipple or nowle, the same being provided with a simple,central, slit I5 in the face thereof so as to freely discharge thedentifrice when under pressure, but which will automatically close byits inherent resiliency, thus insuring against remaining open andfouling within the brush 5 when not desired; and which tip or nozzle maybe secured within the brush in any desired manner.

The dentifrice tube is illustrated at 3, and is of suitable rigidmaterial to withstand ordinary l0 abuse in handling, and designed tosnugly fit within the elliptically shaped bore of the handle. This boreor barrel is provided especially for the purpose of preventing turningof the tube when inserted within the handle.

The forward end of the dentifrice tube is provided with an annularinclined shoulder as at I6 so as to snugly lt the lesser inclinedshoulder I'I of the socket end of the brush shank I2 to in-A sureagainst leakage of the dentifrice, and which 20 shoulder is furthercontinued at a lesser angle forming a tapered neck 21 on thetube. Thisneck is internally screw-threaded for any suitable form of cap or plugnot shown, but which tapered neck is desired to t snugly within the softrubber fillet l5 or washer I8 installed within the socket end of thebrush shank, so that when the dentifrice tube is thus installed withinthe handle of the toothbrush it is positively insured against leakageabout such connection.

Now the rear end of the tube 3 is equipped with a concaved metal orother semi-rigid follower I9, it being so shaped as to receive thebeveled face- 20 of the plunger 2|, and about its innermost inclned edgeis provided with a suitable yieldable Q washer 22 or packing ring whichtends to slightly expand when pressure is applied thereto by the thrustof the dentifrice thereagainst, and =also insured against leakagethereabouts when the extrusion press is forced forward.

This piston or extruder 2| is, of course, elliptical in shape toregister properly with the compression ring or follower I9, and upon theopposite extremities of its larger diameter is slightly inclined sol asto engage a beveled or chamfered 5 recess'23 upon the similarly oppositeends of the rearmost extremity of the tube chamber; this being for thepurpose of insuring at the return stroke of the plunger that it registeruniformly within the elliptically shaped end of the chamber. i

The extruding mechanism or telescopic jack, as previously described,comprises the internally screw-threaded members 5, 6, I and 8, with thecentermost plunger stem 9 having an enlarged Il head 24 screw-threadedlymounted within the member l, and. the other member i of the jack has asolid head carrying axially thereof the bolt 25' of the cap I I so thatwhen the cap is turned as by the thumb and nger of the operator theother member of the Jack will also be turned, thus causing any or allofthe cooperating members to similarly turn one within the other, andtheir frlctional engagement may permit lt .being optional as to whichone does the turning, so long as the plunger stem is prevented fromturning. The plug I is provided with slightly enlarged oblique facesupon either side thereof to reduce the frictional engagement of the capand the head of the outer jack member 5, which is obvious, and it isclear from the above description that the turning of the ca'p II willforce the plunger 2l into the concaved seat of thefollower I9' oi theldentifrice tube. Also that when the cap II is turned in the oppositedirection it will cause the jack to retract to its fully retractedposition within the chamber, and withl the plunger 2i drawn fully backfree from the end of the tube. Assuming the tube to have been emptied bythe use of the device, if the handle portion I is unscrewed from theshank I2 of the brush, the neck of the tube is conveniently availablefor extraction and another tube vinstalled Within the handle, when thedevice may be again assembled and ready 'to function as before.

It is further obvious that by unscrewing of the bolt 25 the cap II maybe removed. when the plug III is accessible as by a suitable wrench, andwhen the latter is removed, the Jack or ex- .truding mechanism may alsobe conveniently taken out for repair or renewal as desired.

A removable cap or cover is illustrated at 28 which may be slipped overthe brush end of the i device and be frictionally held thereupon-byengagement with the brush carrying shank; the cap or cover beingperforated to allow circulation of air through the bristles, for obviousreasons.

, doradas Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters. Patent, is:

i. A fountain tooth-brush comprising in combination a hollowhandleportion the interior of which is divided into two communicating chamlbers, a dentritricetube removably carried in the maior one of saidchambers, and a dentifrice extrusion press carried within the minor oneof said chambers and cooperatively engageable with .the tube. 10

2. In a fountain tooth-brush having a hollow handle. a removabledentifrice tube carried within 'said handle, an impervious reciprocablefollower forming the bottom of said tube and providing means fordischarging the contents l5 thereof, an extrusion press having abevelededged plunger carried by said handle and engageable against saidfollower for forcing the contents therefrom, and means for preventingrotation of the follower within the tube.

3.' A fountain tooth-brush of the character described comprising ahollow cylindrical handle carrying a selectively reciprocable extrusionpress therein having avconvex plunger, and a dentifrice tube forinsertion within the handle characterized by carrying, independently ofthe handle, a reclprocable concavo-convex disc for engagement by thepress plunger when in the handle for discharging the contents thereof tothe brush. f

. 4. A fountain tooth-brush including a hollow handle having a pair ofaxially aligned compartments, one of which is non-circularly shaped, adentifrice tube having an impervious reciprocable bottom within thenon-circular compartl ment, a collapsible extrusion press within thecircular-compartment having a plunger extendiblewithin the non-circularcompartment forl engagement with said bottom for forcing the contentsfrom the tube.

RICHARD J. VIOLETTE.

